On The Shoulders Of Dwarves

We got this short and to the point email from Peter: Hello, I'm not saying that my players are not smart, but... How do you make your players feel smart when you're running a game? Good question! Uri’s suggestions (02:46) There is a difference between making players feel smart and making players actually act smarter. This of course is also true for any other emotion that you want your players to experience. Target characters, not players: Use the mechanics. Players don’t need to be smart. The characters may be smart. “Smart” usually have mechanical definitions - use them. NPCs reactions: making the player character looks good by the reactions of NPCs (“15 minutes of glory”). GM praise: some simple guiding actions like saying “oh, that was a good plan”, or “nice one” Describe the results of intelligent actions favorably “thanks to your clever distraction, only four guards stand next to the treasure chest and not the full battle squad that is usually stationed there” Reward intelligent actions: humans react to